Profile Not Available Message on LinkedIn (August 2022)

LinkedIn is a major networking platform with plenty of benefits! Let’s troubleshoot this error message and find the profile you’re looking for.

What Is LinkedIn?

Launching in 2002 from Mountain View, CA, LinkedIn is the largest professional network in existence. The platform has many beneficial uses such as finding work, connecting with other professionals, and building skills to help you achieve career goals.

Whatever the reason you find yourself using the platform, you may be occasionally stumped by error messages like “profile not available” on LinkedIn. This can happen if you were provided with a user’s LinkedIn username or address and tried to google it or type it directly into the platform’s search engine. If the search is inconclusive, your browser will be redirected to an error screen. These situations can definitely be frustrating, so we’ve compiled some resources below to help you troubleshoot the issue.

Why Is My Profile Not Available on LinkedIn?

Are you searching for your account without being logged in, and are unable to see it? There are a few reasons why this issue is occurring. Every LinkedIn user has the ability to adjust the privacy settings on their account, so the entire public can’t access all the information on their account. This is an important function of privacy as many do not want to share personal information, like their job history, with people they don’t know.

If your profile isn’t popping up, try checking these privacy factors below. There are also solutions provided for adjusting your visibility so that people can see the information you want them to see.

Visibility settings

When a profile on LinkedIn is created, the platform publishes a public version into its database of members. This published profile is what appears when someone’s name or profile address is entered into a search engine. It’s different from what you see when you are logged in and looking at your profile or feed.

If your profile isn’t coming up in the search results or if you are getting an error message, it could be due to your profile’s public visibility settings.

Solution:

Check your profile’s public visibility settings to make sure your public visibility is set to on. To do this follow the steps below:

1. On your web browser, click the circle with your profile picture in the top right of the toolbar.
2. Click “settings & privacy”
3. Click “visibility”
4. Click ‘profile viewing options”
5. Set your profile viewing settings to show either “your name and headline” or “private profile characteristics”

Please note that you may keep your profile viewing on “private mode” if you wish, but your profile will not be searchable on any search engine and the error message will keep popping up.

Display Full Last Name

LinkedIn does not allow any of its users to display a fake name or nickname. If you don’t display your full last name, your profile will not be publicly available. Still, you can change your profile settings to show or not share your last name with the public. If you make your last name private, your friends will be able to see your last name, but others won’t.

To adjust the visibility of your last name, follow steps 1 and 2 in the above section, then follow the steps below. Remember, your profile will only be public and searchable if you display your full last name.

Click “Privacy” > Scroll down to “who can see your last name” > Click “Change” > Select your preferred setting.

If you’re aiming to expand your network and boost your profile, make sure your full last name is displayed. To learn how to boost your organic traffic on LinkedIn, check out this blog!

Why Is Someone Else’s Profile Not Available on Linkedin?

There is a multitude of reasons you could be getting the error message “profile not available” on LinkedIn. It’s speculated that the platform uses this message to cover a variety of scenarios to protect the privacy of its users. Here, we’ll go over the most common reasons for receiving this message.

You Blocked The Person or The Person Blocked You

It turns out that not everyone gets along online. So, LinkedIn has a blocking feature that will prevent any two users from interacting with each other on the platform. If you are the blocker or the blockee, you won’t be able to see each other’s profiles, message each other, or see any of each other’s posts. It’ll be like you don’t exist to each other online. And when you try to search for each other, you’ll be redirected to the “profile not available” message on LinkedIn. If you want to see their profile, here are a few solutions to try out.

1. If you’ve blocked the person, unblock them in your settings.
2. If they’ve blocked you, there’s not much to do but try to have a conversation with them. You can reach out to them via a different profile and ask for clarity. If it feels right, you can ask them to unblock you.

The Person Closed Their Account or Changed Account Details

Any user can create or close their own profile as they wish. If someone’s profile isn’t coming up when you search for it, and you’re certain they didn’t block you, it’s possible they closed their account. If you’re searching for their profile URL, or their linked email address or phone number, they may have changed those details.

Solution:

If you are friends on the platform, try searching for them if your friend’s section. Although their account details may be different, you may recognize their name, photo, or work experience. Alternatively, if you remember their profession, you might be able to find their current profile on their company’s website.

If these results are inconclusive, there is a chance that they no longer wanted to be on the platform and have closed their account. They could have also changed their settings so their profile is on “private mode” and totally un-findable.

They’ve Been Banned or Suspended From Linkedin

Like all popular networking or social media platforms, LinkedIn has community guidelines that users are asked to adhere to. If these rules are broken, an account can be suspended or banned forever from the site. Only the banned or suspended user can make an appeal to regain access to the site.

If a profile has been banned or suspended, the user is the only person that will receive a notification of the verdict. The public will not know that the account has been banned, as they will only receive the all-encompassing “account not found” error message.